I didn’t think it was possible to respect Tom Brady as a quarterback any more, but the greatest of all time was amazing in his third Super Bowl loss.

Brady threw for 505 yards without an interception and his team never punted. He just couldn’t quite outpace what his defense was giving up.

What happened to defenses? It’s not good to overreact to any one game, but the Super Bowl looked an awful lot like the Oklahoma-Georgia Rose Bowl. And we’d already seen the Vikings and Saints playoff games and Jaguars over Steelers where defenses had little chance of stringing together any stops.

It's exciting football, but not exactly what we grew up with. One has to think the cycle will go back to defense at some point. The defenses haven't quit trying, they're just having trouble catching up.

And it wasn’t because the officials in the playoffs, especially the championship games and Super Bowl, were throwing too many flags to make defense impossible. I thought there were four or five times Sunday night where contact would have definitely drawn a flag in the regular season.

While I guessed correctly that the Eagles would win the Super Bowl, I would have never picked them if you’d told me how little pressure they’d get on Brady. The New England o-line really held up. I would have guessed the Eagles would get torched if they couldn’t get to No. 12.

But the Eagles – they were a team I locked on early in the season on Sunday Ticket, probably in their loss at Kansas City – did what they did all year offensively with a variety of weapons pitching in to keep even excellent defensive coordinators completely off-balance.

The Eagles won this by always pushing to go take the game and not expecting the Patriots to ever quit or act scared themselves. The fourth down at the end of the half was not something many coaches would have done. Jacksonville certainly wouldn't have. The Jags were afraid of their own shadow in the final minute of the first half. They were afraid to take shots down the field against a vulnerable New England defense down the stretch.

Doug Pederson suffered from no such fears. He nearly suffered the same fate —Brady was that good — but prevailed because he was always trying to succeed, not just fail less often.

Felt bad for Carson Wentz – I think Philly would have been favored with their starting QB – but what an unforgettable experience for Nick Foles. He could very well go back to being “Just A Guy” in the future but no one can take away what the Austin Westlake star accomplished. Texas really produces a lot of successful quarterbacks. I know a lot of Longhorn fans wish more of those good NFL QBs from Texas had come via Austin.

Speaking of Texans, the Texas Football Twitter account put out a list of Texas High School Football alums who just won a championship. Foles mentioned how real the competition was in Texas high schools during a post-game interview on NFL Network.

A faith in God doesn't mean the final score is going your way. I know some out there take an athlete giving "Glory to God" as saying God had a say in whether Brady fumbled the ball late in the game or a kicker misses a field goal.

Sharing this story below doesn't mean some Patriots didn't also have faith. But it'd been a driving force behind many on the Eagles long before they got to Sunday's Super Bowl result. Here's a story some of you may enjoy. Former Olney standout and Hirschi High School coach Cody Slater appreciated the example.

When I was younger the Super Bowl was often a blowout in the 1980s and '90s, but six of the last eight Super Bowls have been decided by eight points or less.

I think the free agency era has made it difficult for one elite team to pull away from the very good teams. It's also possible that coaching is more detailed across the board, too.

Anyway, as football fans we were treated to yet another exciting College Football Playoff (Alabama over Georgia) and another Super Bowl classic.

SUPER BOWL LIII ODDS

It'd be easy to like the Eagles, the best team this season even without a starting quarterback, left tackle or most experienced offensive weapon (Darren Sproles). They should get Carson Wentz back in the fold. But it's the Patriots, in a possibly weaker AFC, who are the favorites at 5-1. The Eagles are next at 8/1. The Steelers and Packers are next at 10/1. Minnesota is fifth at 12/1. The Cowboys are 20/1 and in a group that includes the Texans, Falcons, Rams and Saints. I don't bet, but would take the Saints out of that 20/1 group.

The last repeat champion was the Patriots in 2004 and 2005 Super Bowls (2003 and 2004 seasons), ironically capped by a 24-21 win over Philadelphia.